LEESVILLE, La. — Onyx Renewables, in partnership with sustainable infrastructure provider Corvias, has completed construction of two ground-mount solar projects totaling 13 megawatts at the U.S. Army’s Fort Polk military installation.
The projects, which span 97 acres, are scheduled for energization this fall. Onyx will finance, own, and operate the systems long term under a 25-year power purchase agreement. The solar arrays are expected to meet 40 percent of the electricity demand for on-base housing in their first year.
Officials said the effort strengthens the Army’s pursuit of energy resiliency while providing predictable electric rates for the installation. Future plans include adding battery storage and microgrid controls.
“Onyx is proud to contribute to on-base readiness at Fort Polk through our partnership with Corvias,” said Kevin Cox, Onyx Renewables’ senior vice president of origination. “By increasing onsite energy capacity with distributed resources, we are not only bolstering crucial resilience across the base but also generating savings that will benefit the military community stationed there.”
Chris Wilson, Corvias chief executive officer, added: “By enhancing the energy infrastructure of military installations, we are helping to meet tomorrow’s defense needs.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this month drew representatives from Onyx, Corvias, the U.S. Department of Defense, and community leaders.
The project builds on Onyx and Corvias’ track record of distributed generation assets for the Army, including at Fort Riley in Kansas.